WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Employers in the United States opened in March the fewest jobs in over a year, which could raise concerns about the recent slowing economic growth and postpone an expected rise in interest rates by the Federal Reserve.
Nonfarm payrolls rose by 126,000 last month, the fewest since December 2013, said on Friday Department of Labor.
The goods-producing sector, I was hurt by soaring dollar, got rid of 13,000 job positions last month, the biggest drop since July 2013.
The unemployment rate remained at 5.5%, the lowest in more than six and a half years, partly due to the abandonment of the workforce.
“The economy is showing the negative effects of strong dollar and the collapse of oil prices. Corporate profits have been pressed, and contracts were adjusted in response to that, “said Jim Baird, chief investment officer at Plante Moran Financial Advisors in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected an increase 245,000 payrolls in March, with a stable unemployment rate at 5.5%.
The prices of US Treasury debt amounted as investors returned to postpone their expectations of a rate hike by the Fed this year .
The dollar fell against a basket of currencies, while futures NYSE receded.
The US Central Bank has shown a preference for interbank rates rise, which has remained near zero percent since December 2008.
But the recent weakness of the economy led investors to postpone their bets “off” rates and some believe that even the Fed could wait until 2016.
The low employment growth in March ended 12 consecutive months of supers to 200,000, which was the longest streak since 1994.
In addition, data for January and February were rectified to show 69,000 fewer jobs than previously reported, giving the report an even weaker tone were created.
The relatively small increase in employment could encourage fears that the recent weakness in economic activity may have more to do with fundamentals that transitional issues.
The labor market in general had steered the impact of crude boreal winter, the strong dollar, weaker demand overall and a dispute at ports on the west coast, which combined to weaken the economic activity in the first quarter.
The expansion slowed considerably in the last three months. Estimates of gross domestic product placed growth at levels as low as 0.6% in the first quarter, although it is believed that the slowdown is temporary.
Wages on the rise
However, the report included some good news. Average hourly earnings, analysts closely monitored to assess when is the Fed could raise rates, increased seven cents, implying an annual increase of 2.1%.
At a time when Wal-Mart and McDonald’s have announced increases in the wages of hourly workers, the wage growth could gain momentum in the coming months.
Other companies like TJX Cos Inc and health insurer Aetna, also announced wage increases.
While the participation rate of the labor force, which is the proportion of working-age Americans who are employed or at least looking for a job, down a tenth of a percentage point to 62.7% last month, other measurements of the “board” of the Fed continued to improve.
A broad measure of unemployment, which includes people who want to work but gave up looking and those working part-time because not find full-time employment, dropped to lowest in more than six and a half years of 10.9% from 11% in February.
The number of unemployed for 27 weeks or longer also declined further.
Some economists believe that bad weather could have affected employment growth last month, citing a decline in payrolls and a slowdown in construction employment entertainment and hospitality.
average workweek fell to 34.5 hours last month from 34.6 in February.
“It is very likely that the time has been part of history but recent payroll numbers approach more in line with other data pointed to some underlying slowdown, “said Alan Ruskin, a responsible strategy changes Deutsche Bank in New York.
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